The Office of the Vice President has clarified Kashim Shettima’s comments on the support President Bola Tinubu received from northern governors ahead of the June 2022 All Progressives Congress presidential primary.
The clarification was issued on Thursday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, who said Shettima’s reference to six northern governors applied strictly to political consultations and alignments before the APC primary.
The clarification followed Shettima’s remarks on Wednesday at the palace of the Emir of Ilorin, Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari.
The Vice President had said only six of the 19 northern governors “believed and supported” Tinubu.
“You all know that we have 19 states in the North. Out of these, only six actually believed and supported Tinubu,” Shettima said.
He identified former Niger State Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, and Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, as two of the six.
Shettima declined to name the remaining four, saying he wanted to avoid controversy.
He, however, said Tinubu later reconciled with the northern governors who did not support his presidential bid.
“After the 2023 election, President Tinubu hugged and forgave all other northern governors that did not support him. That is a mark of a good leader,” he said.
But Nkwocha said the Vice President’s reference to six governors should not be interpreted as suggesting that northern APC governors failed to support Tinubu after he emerged as the party’s presidential candidate.
“The reference by the Vice President to six northern governors who ‘believed in and supported’ President Tinubu was strictly in the context of political consultations and alignments that took place before the APC presidential primary in June 2022,” Nkwocha said.
According to him, northern APC governors rallied behind Tinubu after the primary and contributed to the campaign that secured his victory in the 2023 general election.
“After the primary, APC governors in the North rallied around the party’s candidate and played important roles in the campaign that culminated in President Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 general election,” he said.
The Vice President’s office said Shettima holds the northern governors and other APC leaders in high regard.
It said he recognised their individual and collective contributions to the party’s success and Tinubu’s emergence as its presidential candidate.
Nkwocha added that Shettima regretted any interpretation of his remarks suggesting otherwise.
He said the clarification was issued to place the Vice President’s comments in their proper context.
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